III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 226 

Calling for free and fair parliamentary elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2005 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. HAGEL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for free and fair parliamentary elections in the 

Republic of Azerbaijan. 

Whereas the Republic of Azerbaijan is scheduled to hold elections for its parliament, the Milli Majlis, in November 

2005; 

Whereas Azerbaijan has enjoyed a strong relationship with 

the United States since its independence from the former 

Soviet Union in 1991; 

Whereas international observers monitoring Azerbaijan’s October 2003 presidential election found that the pre-election, election day, and post-election environments fell 

short of international standards; 

Whereas the International Election Observation Mission 

(IEOM) in Baku, Azerbaijan, deployed by the Organiza-
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tion for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and 

the Council of Europe, found that there were numerous 

instances of violence by both members of the opposition 

and government forces; 

Whereas the international election observers also found inequality and irregularities in campaign and election conditions, including intimidation against opposition supporters, restrictions on political rallies by opposition candidates, and voting fraud; 

Whereas Azerbaijan freely accepted a series of commitments 

on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law when 

that country joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a participating State in 1992; 

Whereas, following the 2003 presidential election, the Council 

of Europe adopted Resolution 1358 (2004) demanding 

that the Government of Azerbaijan immediately implement a series of steps that included the release of political prisoners, investigation of election fraud, and the creation of public service television to allow all political parties to better communicate with the people of Azerbaijan; 

Whereas, since the 2003 presidential election, the Government of Azerbaijan has taken some positive steps by releasing some political prisoners and working toward the 

establishment of public service television; 

Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires that citizens be guaranteed the right and opportunity to exercise 

their civil and political rights, free from intimidation, 

undue influence, threats of political retribution, or other 

forms of coercion by national or local authorities or others; 
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Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires government and public authorities to ensure that candidates 

and political parties enjoy equal treatment before the law 

and that government resources are not employed to the 

advantage of individual candidates or political parties; 

and 

Whereas the establishment of a transparent, free and fair 

election process for the 2005 parliamentary elections is 

an important step in Azerbaijan’s progress toward full integration into the democratic community of nations: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the Government of the Republic of 

3 Azerbaijan to hold orderly, peaceful, and free and 

4 fair parliamentary elections in November 2005 in 

5 order to ensure the long-term growth and stability of 

6 the country; 

7 (2) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

8 guarantee the full participation of opposition parties 

9 in the upcoming elections, including members of op10 position parties arrested in the months leading up to 

11 the November 2005 parliamentary elections; 

12 (3) calls upon the opposition parties to fully 

13 and peacefully participate in the November 2005 

14 parliamentary elections, and calls upon the Govern15 ment of Azerbaijan to create the conditions for the 

16 participation on equal grounds of all viable can17 didates; 
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1 (4) believes it is critical that the November 

2 2005 parliamentary elections be viewed by the peo3 ple of Azerbaijan as free and fair, and that all sides 

4 refrain from violence during the campaign, on elec5 tion day, and following the election; 

6 (5) supports recommendations made by the 

7 Council of Europe on amendments to the Unified 

8 Election Code of Azerbaijan, specifically to ensure 

9 equitable representation of opposition and pro-gov10 ernment forces in all election commissions; 

11 (6) urges the international community and do12 mestic nongovernmental organizations to provide a 

13 sufficient number of election observers to ensure 

14 credible monitoring and reporting of the November 

15 2005 parliamentary elections; 

16 (7) recognizes the need for the establishment of 

17 an independent media and assurances by the Gov18 ernment of Azerbaijan that freedom of the press will 

19 be guaranteed; and 

20 (8) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

21 guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of assem22 bly. 

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